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Universities are facing a new funding crisis with looming public spending cuts and intense competition from overseas, according to Sir Alan Langlands, head of the university funding council for England, writes Polly Curtis for The Guardian. Langlands warned that the UK risks losing its international reputation for higher education as other countries pump cash into universities to try to train people out of the recession.

This comes after research by the lecturer's union suggested that universities are already making widespread job cuts in anticipation of a decrease in public funding. In the last year 1,318 academics have been laid off and a further 5,097 are threatened, it found.

Langlands told a conference of university chairs convened by the Higher Education Funding Council for England: "It seems to me we're in what could be a very difficult transition. We've had a period of real terms growth that may be seen in history as a bit of a golden age. This is happening at a time when there's intense competition for overseas students... reduced spending [and] a time when there are significant cost pressures." Full report on The Guardian site